Mayhem - G.Weasley

35. Anniversaries

Another couple days had passed and Ivy was acting different. Ever since her visit with Dumbledore, she was off.

She was quiet, lost in thought.

More like tortured by her thoughts.

George noticed that towards the end of the week, she progressively got more and more distant. With everyone. She wouldn't laugh, and would hardly speak.

She barely even spoke to Atanas as well. Despite the situation, that thought made him smile.

It started to scare everyone. She would insist she's fine and head to bed early.

It wasn't until Saturday that George really felt defeated. He had tried everything. Joking, flirting, offering to listen and talk with her. Nothing worked.

He was sitting in the common room, had even slept there waiting for Ivy to come down for any reason. But she never did.

Instead Ginny and Hermione came down, solemn looks on their faces.

"She won't get out of bed." Ginny hugged her arms around herself.

"She just stares out the window, it's like she doesn't hear anything we say. And Shadow will hiss at us anytime we get near her." Hermione added.

"What could Dumbledore have said?" Neville plopped down on the couch next to the rest of his friends.

"She wouldn't be this upset by Dumbledore, it has to be something else!" George concluded.

"Like what?" Fred questioned, just as puzzled as the rest of them.

"I don't know, but she was crying in her sleep. At one point she screamed before she woke up." Ginny shivered.

"Her family." Harry whispered.

"What?" George asked him to speak up.

"It's the anniversary of her family's death." Harry sounded so sure of himself.

"How do you know?"

"Because around that time of year I feel the same way, regardless of how I felt the previous days." Harry picked at a fiber on the couch.

"What can we do?" George felt desperate.

"There's nothing much you can do? Just be there and wait for the day to pass." Harry shrugged his shoulders, a sympathetic look on his face.

About ten minutes of awkward and nervous silence passed before George stood up.

"I can't take this anymore, I'm going to see her."

"Just leave her be George." Ginny tried to stop him, but he shoved past his little sister. He muttered an apology as he sprinted up the stairs.

He paused at the top, spying her form bundled beneath a mountain of blankets. Shadow's head perked up to see just who dared to disturb his master. Once he saw who came, Shadow laid his head back down and cuddled close to Ivy.

George ventured closer and knelt in front of her bed, so his body was blocking her view of the window. Her eyes almost looked through him to what laid beyond.

He leaned in a little closer, testing the boundary between him and Shadow. His eyes never left the cat as he tested his limits.

Shadow never once hissed at him, nor looked to interested in his presence. He took that as a sign that he wouldn't be mauled if he got any closer to Ivy.

"Hey Cactus." His hands rested on the twin bed.

Ivy's eyes wavered on his for a moment before she huffed and closed them for a moment. He saw nothing but pure sorrow. He couldn't even begin to imagine how hard it must be for her on this day every year.